ŠiauliaiŠiauliai (ʃaʊˈleɪ; ɕɛʊ̯ˈljɛɪ̯ˑ; Šiaulē) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 108,000 in 2023. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different languages: Samogitian Šiaulē, Latvian Saule (historic) and Šauļi (modern), German (outdated) Schaulen, ˈʃaʊ̯lən, Polish Szawle, Russian Шавли (Shavli – historic) and Шяуля́й (Shyaulyai – modern), Yiddish שאַװל (Shavel). The city was first mentioned in written sources as Soule in Livonian Order chronicles describing the Battle of Saule.
Teutonic OrderThe Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society 1190 in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their s to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals. Its members have commonly been known as the Teutonic Knights, having historically served as a crusading military order for supporting Catholic rule in the Holy Land and the forced conversion to Catholicism in the Baltics during the Middle Ages, as well as providing military protection for Catholics in Eastern Europe.
WarmiaWarmia (Warmia; Latin: Varmia, Warmia; ; Warmian: Warńija; Varmė; Old Prussian: Wārmi) is both a historical and an ethnographic region in northern Poland, forming part of historical Prussia. Its historic capitals were Frombork and Lidzbark Warmiński and the largest city is Olsztyn. Varmia is currently the core of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (province). The region covers an area of around and has approximately 350,000 inhabitants.
ElblągElbląg (ˈɛlblɔŋk; Elbing; Elbings) is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 117,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County. Elbląg is one of the oldest cities in the province. Its history dates back to 1237, when the Teutonic Order constructed their fortified stronghold on the banks of a nearby river. The castle subsequently served as the official seat of the Teutonic Order Masters.
Prussian CrusadeThe Prussian Crusade was a series of 13th-century campaigns of Roman Catholic crusaders, primarily led by the Teutonic Knights, to Christianize under duress the pagan Old Prussians. Invited after earlier unsuccessful expeditions against the Prussians by Christian Polish kings, the Teutonic Knights began campaigning against the Prussians, Lithuanians and Samogitians in 1230.
NemanThe Neman, Niemen, Nioman, Nemunas or Memel is a river in Europe that rises in central Belarus and flows through Lithuania then forms the northern border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia's western exclave, which specifically follows its southern channel. It drains into the Curonian Lagoon, narrowly connected to the Baltic Sea. It flows about , so is considered a major Eastern European river. It flows generally west to Grodno within of the Polish border, north to Kaunas, then westward again to the sea.
Military order (religious society)A military order (militaris ordo) is a Christian religious society of knights. The original military orders were the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller, the Order of Saint James, the Order of Calatrava, and the Teutonic Knights. They arose in the Middle Ages in association with the Crusades, both in the Holy Land, the Baltics, and the Iberian peninsula; their members being dedicated to the protection of pilgrims and Christians, as well as the defence of the Crusader states. They are the predecessors of chivalric orders.
Sambia PeninsulaSambia (Самбийский полуостров) or Samland (Земландский полуостров) or Kaliningrad Peninsula (official name, Калининградский полуостров, Kaliningradsky poluostrov) is a peninsula in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea. The peninsula is bounded by the Curonian Lagoon to the north-east, the Vistula Lagoon in the southwest, the Pregolya River in the south, and the Deyma River in the east. As Sambia is surrounded on all sides by water, it is technically an island.
TczewTczew (AUDPl-Tczew.oggtczef, Dërszewò; formerly ) is a city on the Vistula River in Eastern Pomerania, Kociewie, northern Poland with 59,111 inhabitants (December 2021). The city is known for its Old Town and the Vistula Bridge, or Bridge of Tczew, which played a key role in the Invasion of Poland during World War II. It is the capital of Tczew County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship and the largest town of the ethnocultural region of Kociewie. The city is the location for the annual English Language Camp arranged by the American-Polish Partnership for Tczew.
ChełmnoChełmno (AUDPl-Chełmno.ogg'heUmno; older Culm; formerly ) is a town in northern Poland near the Vistula river with 18,915 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the seat of the Chełmno County in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Due to its regional importance in the Middle Ages, the city gave its name to the entire area, Chełmno Land (and later an administrative unit of the Kingdom of Poland, the Chełmno Voivodeship), the local Catholic diocese and Kulm law, which was used to found cities and towns around Poland, including the current capital city of Warsaw.
